Ebenezer Bleu-ge

Ah, Bob’s Burgers, my favorite of the slightly inappropriate cartoon genre. I’ve talked about the Belchers, and tried some of their not-so-famous burgers of the day, here and here. Seriously, if you haven’t watched the show yet, give it a try. It just had it’s seventh birthday and a movie is planned for 2020, so it’s here to stay. Yes, it is inappropriate at times. Yes, it can be absurd. But, underneath it all is a family that loves each other and will do anything for each other. And they make really tasty burgers.

In the recent Christmas episode, Bob’s punny Burger of the Day was called the Ebenezer Bleu-ge. Since I can’t resist bleu cheese on a burger, I knew I had to move this to the top of my “to make” list.

The first part of any Bob’s Burgers burger is adding garlic powder to the meat. It’s his secret ingredient and, besides, garlic is delicious. Throw some in your ground beef according to your taste. I topped the Bleu-ge with caramelized onions (cook these low and slow – mine took about 45 minutes on a low flame) and a creamy bleu cheese mix. I made the mix by combining a tablespoon of cream cheese with two tablespoons of bleu cheese crumbles. That’s it for the meat and toppings. Super simple, right?

For the bun, you can use anything you enjoy. This would be terrific on a brioche or pretzel bun. However, I decided to expand on the meaning of the name. Ebenezer Scrooge would not have spent the money to buy fancy hamburger buns. To honor his dubious legacy, and to add a bit of uniqueness to my burger, I cut two rounds from regular bread. I buttered one side of each and sprinkled them with Old Bay® Seasoning (because cajun-ish spices are divine with bleu cheese.) After that, I toasted up the rounds in the same skillet I used for the onions and burger patties. The “buns” were perfect. The toasty spice complemented the creamy sweetness of the cheese and onions and the smaller amount of bread (as compared to a big bun) allowed the burger innards to be the star of the show.

Burgers are such a great dish to start getting creative with your cooking. What would your version of the Ebenezer Bleu-ge look like?